Railway-car construction



3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

C. A. SMITH. -RAILWAY GAR GONSTRUGTIUN.

RAILWAY GAR CONSTRUCTION.

No. 530,969r

Patented Deo. 18, 1894.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES AUSTIN SMITH, SOUTH CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-CAR CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 530,969, dated December18, 1894.

Application led March 2, 1893. Serial No. 4641463 (N0 mOlJ To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES AUSTIN SMITH, of South Chicago, Cook county,Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Car Construction, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to the floor si'll foundation ofrailway cars, and has for its object the providing ,of a simple,economical and efficient lioor sill foundation; and the inventionconsists in the features and combinations hereinafter described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a iioor plan of one end of afreight cargi Fig. 2, a cross section on line A of Fig..1; Fig. 3, aside elevation of the center floor sills; Fig. 4, a cross section of astrengthening I-beam; Fig. 5, a perspective view of an old type of floorsill foundation, illustrating the'defective and weak points in the same;Fig. 6,'a perspective view of one end of my car, cutoff in line B ofFig. 1; Fig. 7, a perspective view of the strengthening I-beam shown inFig. 4 Fig. 8, a modied form of my structure; Fig. 9, a plan view of thecenter floor sill foundation, looking at it from the top, and Fig. 10v

a modified form of the improvement shown in Fig. 9.

1t is well known in the art to which my invention relates, viz.,theconstruction of proper iloor sill foundations for railwaycars-especially where such cars have their center sills made of woodextending the entire length of the car` and to which the draft timbersare bolted to support the proper draft riggingthat they are liable to bemutilated or destroyed by the shock incident to ordinary use.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated the general type of door sill foundationsnow in use,in which` E E represent the center sills which extend theentire length of the car, and to which the draft timbers, H, are securedby meansof the vertical draft bolts, K. The weakest point of thisstructure is over the body bolster, C, which, under severe or evenordinary shocks, is liable to break. In continued use, the center sillswill often split at draft bolts K, as at J, and to such an extent doesthis disintegration of the center sills 'take place that they have to beremoved and replaced by a whole new one-as sectioning or splicing of thesame `would not in freight cars withstand shocks incident to their use,and is not permitted by the Master Car-Builders Association. Thisremoval and replacing of the center sill, due to its splitting ordestruction, is very expensive and laborious, for the reason that if thecar be loaded the load will have to be taken out and the dierentmechanism attached to the center sill taken downsuch as the bolsters,draft rigging, cross ties, and-where air l brakes are use-the mechanismnecessary for such use. This involves considerable loss of time andexpense, as well as delay in handling freight. To overcome thesedisadvantages and provide a center door sill foundation that wil-l'withstand to a great extent the shocks incident to ordinary and evenextraordinary use of the car, as well as to provide means by which theparts that receive the shock may be readily removed and replaced,without removing any of the other parts of the car, are the principalobjects of my invention. l

In illustrating and describing my improvement, I have shown, andwilldescribe, only the portions which form the necessary elements of myinvention, as the construction ,of the rest of the car and its dierentparts are well known to those skilled in the art; and it would be meresuperluity to either illustrate or describe theml in this specitication.

In constructing my improvement, I provide two wooden center sills, E, E,which extend the entire length of the car, and to which ,are secured inthe ordinary or usual manner the end sills and flooring. These centersills are placed closer together than in ordinary use,-see Fig. 6-01'interposed between such sills are planks or blocks, d, to regulate thedistance by which they are separated, though these blocks may bedispensed with and the center sills placed in closer contact throughouttheir entire length. At each end of the car I provide auxiliary sills,G, G, which are bolted to the center sills by means of tie rods orbolts, n, n, and o, o. These bolts may extend merely through one centerand auxiliary sill, or, if desired, through the entire set, for thepurpose of obtainingthe benet'of unity and strength. The removal, ofthese bolts IOO permits the auxiliary sills to be removed from thecenter sills and replaced by new ones, as desired.

In order to further strengthen the center sills, and distribute theshock which comes on such sills,I prefer to interpose between the centerand auxiliary sills metallic strengthenin g beams, F, preferably formedof I-beams which extend the length of the auxiliary sill, though in themodified form of Fig. l0, I have shown it extending the entire length ofthe center sill. To still further strengthen the structure and help todistribute the shock incident to the use of the car and break joints atcross ties, I interpose between each set of auxiliary sills spliceplanks, L, which have their end portions abutting the ends of theauxiliary sills and practically form a continuous sill throughout. Thesesplice planks or beams, L, are secured to the center sills by means ofbolts or screws, as desired, thus forming, in connection with the centersills, auxiliary" sills and strengthening beam, a bolted chord for thecenter of the car, which effectually absorbs and distributes the shockincident to the use of the car.

I secure the draft timbers, H, directly to the auxiliary sills, by meansof the vertical bolts, K. To facilitate the removal of these bolts andat the same time the draft timbers without disturbing the auxiliarysills, I notch or groove the upper surface of the auxiliary sills, at e,e, to receive the nut of the vertical draft bolt, so that the same maybe inserted or removed from the notch while the car is under load, or atother times.

In describing the modified strengthening beam, F, I spoke of an I-beam,butwhile I may use the ordinary commercial I-beam, I prefer to use onehaving the main or body portion, X, provided with short plain beveledanges, e, a, and y, y, about two and one-half inches across thetop,-while in the ordinary constructions they are double that size.

While I prefer to use modified or improved I-beams, I do not desire tobelimited strictly to the use of such form. By the use of these metallicstrengthening beams, into which the center and auxiliary sills areinserted, having their corners beveled, I am enabled to notch, as abovestated, the upper surface of the auxiliary sills, without any timberspringing or sagging.

The advantages of my construction are, that the center sills arestrengthened over the body bolster, the portion which is most liable torupture or splitting, by having the combined six elements instead of theold two to withstand ordinary or extraordinary shocks incident to theuse of the car; and while I prefer to use these six elements, in somecases the metallic strengthening beam may be dispensed with-as shown inFig. 8 of the drawings-and the center and auxiliary sills bolteddirectly to each other, thus obtaining to a great extent all theadvantages of my principal form of construction.

While I have described my invention with A more or less minuteness as todetail, and as being embodied in precise forms, I do not desire to belimited thereto unduly. On the contrary, I contemplate all properchanges in form, construction and arrangement, the omission of `partsand the substitution of equivalents, as circumstances may suggest orrender expedient.

I claiml. In combination with a railway car provided with center sills,auxiliary sills attached thereto at each end to the center sills andextended back overthe body bolsters,and metallic strengthening beamsinterposed between such center sills and auxiliary sills, the wholerigidly secured together, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a railway car, center sills extending the entirelength of the car, auxiliary sills attached to such center sills at eachend thereof, and metallic I-beams interposed between such center andauxiliary sills, the whole being rigidly secu red together,substantially as described.

3. In combination with a railway car provided with center sills,auxiliary sills attached thereto at each end to the center sills andextending back over the body bolster, and draft timbers secured to theauxiliary sills, substantially as described.

4. In combination with a railway car, center sills extending the entirelength of the car, auxiliary sills rigidly attached to such center sillsat each end thereof and extending back over the body bolster, and drafttimbers secured to such auxiliary sills, substantially as described.

5. In combination with a railway car, center sills extending the entirelength of the car, auxiliary sills rigidly attached to such center sillsat each end thereof, metallic strengthening beams interposed betweensuch center and auxiliary sills and rigidly secured to the same andextending back over the body bolster, and draft timbers secured totheauxiliary sills, substantially as described.

6. In combination with a railway car provided with center sills,auxiliary sills attached to such center sills at the ends thereof andextending back over the body bolster, metallic I-beams interposedbetween such center sills and auxiliary sills and rigidly attached tothe same, and draft timbers removably secured to the auxiliary sills,substantially as described.

7. In combination with a railway ear, center sills extending the entirelength of the IOO lIO

car, auxiliary sills rigidly attached to such center sills at each endthereof extending back over the body bolster and provided with notchesor openings to receive the nuts of the draft bolts, metallicstrengthening beams interposed betweenfsuch center and auxiliary sillsand rigidly attached to the same, draft timbers removably secured to theauxiliary sills, and vertical bolts passed through such draft timbersand auxiliary sills and having their nuts resting in notches or openingsin the auxiliary sills, substantially as described.

8. In combination with a railway car, a bolted chord for the center ofthe car comprising center sills extending the entire length of the car,auxiliary sills rigidly attached thereto at each end thereof andextending back over the body bolster, metallic strengthening beamsinterposed between such center and auxiliary sills and rigidly attachedto the same, and splice planks secured to such center sills and havingtheir end portions abutting the ends of the auxiliary sills,substantially as described.

CHAS. AUSTIN SMITH.

Witnesses:

LEE W. CARPENTER, ALDEN ANDRUS.

